Arthur's Nightmare
by rockmysocks456
Summary: Arthur's been acting rather strange lately. Eames decides to find out if it was something he's been hiding from the team. It is. NO SLASH! Just friendship.
1. Chapter 1

_* Here's yet ANOTHER Arthur story. In case you haven't noticed, I love him :] haha, but anyways... READ AND REVIEW!_

* * *

Eames knew as well as the rest of the team that Arthur was the most collected, and composed person that walked the Earth. His voice was always level, his hair slicked back neatly, his three-piece suits smooth and clean, and his expression had become almost signature, it was always emotionless, pure Arthur.

Little did Eames know that in only a few hours he would see Arthur lose control. It was not in Arthur to do so, and so it was very rare. He was always in control of himself, the situation, and any conflict the might arise, he was prepared and never surprised when something went wrong.

Even when Arthur was hurt, he would of course grimace in pain, but never allowed others to tend to him, he could take care of himself, because he knew he was always in control and he wanted it to always be that way.

It was today that it happened.

It was an average day, but ever since a truely horrific operation with Inception, Arthur had been acting rather strangely. No one was concerned at first, they figured this was just the emotionless Arthur's way of coping, little did they know what had happened.

A flashback. A memory. A nightmare.

They had gone on a mission, which unfortunately had failed and they'd abandoned, and they were doing terribly, facing complications in the third level. Things had all been going wrong, nothing was according to plan. All the information Arthur had dug up on this guy was wrong, he had somehow hacked into every record of himself and changed it so that he seemed less dangerous then he truely was. He was trained against them, and his subconscious had already taken Dom hostage, and shot Eames in the leg.

Eames and Arthur were trying to figure out a plan, while staunching the bleeding to keep Eames from departing to Limbo, when a man walked in, and Arthur gasped.

Eames watched in horror as the man backed Arthur into a wall, and was shocked to see that Arthur looked terrified, and more vulnerable than Eames had ever seen him before. The man flipped open a pocket knife, and pressed it roughly to Arthur's throat, spilling a little blood in the process.

"Arthur! Grab this!" Eames had managed to yell, sliding his gun across the floor to Arthur who picked it up and pressed it weakly into his attacker's chest.

"Arthur! Shoot him already!" Eames yelled, pain building in his leg.

The gun clattered to the floor, and Arthur was against the wall, a blade to his throat, when Cobb came bursting in, having freed himself from his captors. He spotted Arthur and was about to shout out when the first Kick came, and they awoke in level two. Yusuf, Eames, and Dom were surprised by the fact that the man was with them still, his blade still on Arthur's throat. Second Kick, they were back on the first level, and once more the man was there. Last Kick, administered kindly by the new Architect. Finally they all awoke in the warehouse.

Arthur's hand jumped to his neck and he felt around it for any sign of a cut. His breathing was heavy, and he gripped his seat alot harder than necessary to try and get ahold of himself, being Arthur he managed it. But not as well as he usually did.

"You alright, Arthur?" Dom asked curiously, unhooking himself.

"F-Fine..."

It was since then that he'd been acting strangely. He was rather jumpy, and every time they asked Arthur if he'd like to join them in a test run, he always declined hastily coming up with some kind of excuse.

One night, Eames became curious to find out _what_ it was that was bothering the Point Man so much, and so he crept slowly up to the armchair in which the young man was sleeping, and was hooked up to the machine. Eames noticed him twitching in his sleep, looking if possible for Arthur, terrified. Eames had never seen him like this before.

He hooked himself up to the machine and taking a seat, he closed his eyes...


	2. Chapter 2

_* I was gonna wait to update so I could get some more Hits but I REALLY wanted to post this so... Eff that who cares about hits. Just please, READ AND REVIEW!_

* * *

Eames found himself on one of the backstreets of Philadelphia, and looked around curiously, wondering where he might find Arthur. He walked cautiously down the cracked, stained sidewalk and besides the sound of a dog barking, or the occasional rustle of a piece of litter tumbling across the road, it was silent.

It wasn't until he reached the next block that he heard something. It was Arthur's voice, screaming. He went sprinting towards the voice and turned into an alleyway to find Arthur held up against the wall by the same man from before, a knife to his throat. Eames took only a minute to realize that Arthur was bleeding from various places, his arm, his face, his leg... He looked like he'd been attacked. He probably had been. Arthur hadn't taken notice to Eames yet but was struggling against the force in which he was being held by.

"Oi, Arthur!" Eames finally called out.

"E-Eames? What are you doing here?"

The man pressed the knife harder against Arthur's throat and Arthur winced in pain as some blood trickled out.

"Arthur, who is that guy, what happened to you?" Eames demanded.

Arthur did not respond. He struggled and was almost free but the man punched him across the face and he was once more shoved against the wall. With a shaky hand he withdrew his gun from his pocket and slowly put his finger on the trigger. He was about to pull it when his hand shook so bad he dropped it and looked up at his attacker, defenseless and pale.

The man punched Arthur again, hitting him squarely in the jaw and he sunk to the ground, incredibly vulnerable.

Eames knew he couldn't just stand there while his friend... teammate was being attacked! He knew it was only a dream but Cobb had explained to him that pain was in the mind, and in a dream, you most certainly felt it. He pulled out his own gun and fired it at the man who dodged it and turned back to Arthur, unconcerned by Eames and his gun.

The man took the knife, and slit Arthur's throat.

Eames knew Arthur was awake now and felt a sharp pain in his shin and he awoke quite suddenly. Upon opening his eyes he realized Arthur's body must have jolted when he awoke, causing him to kick Eames in the shin, never the less it hurt and Eames glared at him rubbing his shin irritably.

"Arthur, what the bloody _hell_ was that?" He asked harshly.

Arthur, who was clutching the arms of his chair to stop the shaking that was rolling through his body, his face pale, and his eyes wide didn't answer him. He was staring at nothing, but looked as though someone was about to kill him.

"Arthur?" Eames asked curiously.

Arthur still did not reply, but winced slightly at the sound of his name being said.

"Arthur!" Eames said louder, snapping his fingers before the young man's eyes, "Snap out of it!"

Arthur blinked and looked at Eames nervously, "Oh, er- Hello... Eames."

Eames gave him a look that matched what he next said, "Really? I just walked in on you having a nightmare about some man murderering you, you then stare off as if you're looking him in the face, and all you can say is 'Hello'?"

Arthur's eyebrows furrowed before he forced his expression to be set on it's normal, calm and uninterested look. He then chose to turn the whole thing around on Eames.

"What were you doing in my dream anyway?"

Eames could've smacked him. Really wanted to. But he restrained himself.

"Arthur! Are you bloody kidding me? What. Were. You. Doing?"

Arthur knew his plan to blame Eames had failed and with a sigh, he dropped his arms to his knees, his head bowing, he ran a hand through his thickly gelled hair and looking up he said,

"Fine, I'll tell you. But you can tell no one else, alright? Especially not Cobbe, it'll just freak him out."

Eames nodded, listening intently.

Arthur took in a deep breath and said, "That man, that was trying to kill me? He _actually_ tried to kill me a few days ago. The day before the extraction. I was walking down an alleyway and then, a man in the alleyway pulled a knife on me and said, 'Are you Domminick Cobbe's Point Man?' And I told him I was. And then..." Arthur shivered but continued, "Then he had some of his friends beat the shit out of me, and then pinned me to the wall, and held the knife on me..."

Arthur swallowed, feeling his neck.

"He didn't cut me or anything, but he was _going_ to when a cop came into the alley. The guy said, 'I'm going into your head, Arthur. You won't know when the extraction's coming but it will happen. When you least expect it, and then? I'm gonna kill you.' He ran and so did I, I mean Extraction isn't legal you know and I didn't wanna get caught for that so... Ever since then, he's been showing up in my dreams and I don't know how he's doing it!"

Eames scratched the stubble on his chin and said confused, "How come you haven't mentioned an assasination attempt on yourself to any of us yet?"

Arthur looked at him and pushed a newspaper on the desk towards him and said, "Because of this."

Eames took the paper and read the headline: _WANTED CRIMINAL FOUND DEAD._

Eames looked at him skeptically and said gently, "Er- Have you thought maybe you're just having nightmares about him, and he's _not_ really getting in your head?"

Arthur nodded, "Of course I have. But that's the thing. These aren't _normal _dreams. They're like I'd imagine it'd feel like for someone having something extracted from them but backwards. Like they're having something put _in._"

Eames thought this over and then said, "Like _in_straction?"

Arthur cocked an eyebrow and said, "_In_straction?"

Eames glared, "Shut up, I thought it was clever."

Arthur shook his head, "It wasn't."


	3. Chapter 3

_* Okay! Here we are again with another chapter! How many times must I say it? READ AND REVIEW!_

* * *

Arthur approached Cobb, followed by Eames and tapped his shoulder causing him to jump.

"Christ! Arthur! Give me a heart attack why don't you?"

"Sorry. I just have a question."

Cobb nodded, holding his heart.

"Is there such a thing as _in_straction?" He gave Eames a sideways glance who smirked.

Cobb finally getting ahold of himself said, "Yeah. It's when someone goes into the subject's dream, instead of their own, and puts something _in_ their safe, or vault or whatever they happen to have in their mind."

Cobb barely noticed, but Eames out of the corner of his eye saw Arthur sway slightly and grab the end of Cobb's desk for support. Keeping his voice level he continued,

"Well, is there anyway of getting that something _out_?"

Cobb thought a moment and said, "Yeah, you'd just have to destroy the information while you're in the dream. Why?"

Arthur shrugged, "Just doing some research and it came up."

Eames was surprised. Arthur was a surprisingly good liar, he would've thought him to one of those people who gets nervous any time they lie. But Arthur's lie had been so smooth, and calm that had Eames not already known it was a lie, he would've believed it.

"Oh. Alright. Oh! And Arthur, you should probably also know that destroying the information is _extremely_ difficult. It requires the dreamer to destroy a part of their mind. The information isn't like the subconscious. It's an actual part of them, and they usually have a difficult time detatching themselves from it. In fact, sometimes the subconscious fights against them for trying."

Arthur's nails dug deeper into the wood of Cobb's desk.

"Anything else I er- Need to know Cobb?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah. The subject may also have flashes of nightmares, some more extreme than others. It all depends on how the information affects them."

Arthur nodded and Eames said swiftly, "Well, Arthur you ought to be getting back to that research, right?"

Arthur nodded again and allowed Eames to steer him away, back to the armchairs. Cautiously, shoving Arthur into a seat, afraid if he didn't he might pass out. He'd never seen Arthur like this. He was pale, and sweat had collected at his hairline, seeping down onto his forehead.

"Arthur, you alright?" Eames asked uncertainly.

"I can't get rid of this..." Arthur said quietly, eyes wide.

"Arthur, we _can_. We just gotta perform an extraction. On you."

Arthur, unable to stand his restlessness, stood up and was pacing.

"Eames, I'm gonna go forever with this psyco killing me over and over in my head!"

Eames was taken aback. Arthur was completely losing control. He wanted to calm him down but was afraid to say anything in fear of upsetting him. For the first time while Arthur was talking, Eames remained silent.

"You heard Cobb! I might not even be able to get rid of this, because my stupid mind won't let me!"

"Arthur, calm down-"

"I'm gonna have to go on forever with this!"

"Arthur-"

"I'm going to..." His eyes rolled back in his head, and Eames had to run to make it to him in time to catch him before he hit the ground. He shook him a little gruffly and said, alarmed,

"Arthur! Wake up!"

* * *

_The mist cleared and Arthur walked down the sidewalk that had formed before him. He followed it until reaching a construction sign that blocked the rest of the walk. He turned left and was drawn to the alley that he saw. He walked down it curiously when he felt a rough force push him against the wall._

_Several faces loomed over him, punching him, kicking him, just generally beating the shit out of him. He clawed his hand up the wall, dragging himself up again. The man pinned him there and pulled out a knife. He pressed it to Arthur's throat._

_"You're going to die, Arthur."_

_The man yanked the knife across his throat and Arthur crumpled, dead._

* * *

He sat up suddenly, realizing he was back in his armchair and Eames was standing over him looking concerned.

"Arthur! What the hell was that?"

Arthur swallowed and wiping some sweat from his head he said in a shaky voice, "I-I had the nightmare. About the man again."

Eames slammed his hands down on the arm of the chair and said, "Dammnit, Arthur! We're doing the extraction _now!_"

They hooked themselves up and closed their eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

_* Here's another chapter! Hope you like it, even though it's a little bit of a bridge to the next chapter, whatever! As always, READ AND REVIEW!_

* * *

Eames opened his eyes and immediately heard Arthur scream. He turned quickly, and spotted in horror, the man had stabbed Arthur in the shoulder and was aiming for his heart...

A loud crack echoed across the skies, as a thin stream of smoke floated off of the burning tip of Eames' gun. The man had crumpled, a truely horrific bullet wound on his forehead, Arthur standing, his face pale, awestruck in place.

"You alright, Arthur?" Eames asked, returning the gun to his coat pocket.

There was a short pause before Arthur answered, "...Wh-? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm... fine."

Eames stepped closer to examine the damage in Arthur's shoulder, seeing it wasn't _too _bad, he pulled a handkercheif out of his pocket, and wrapped it tightly around the wound. Arthur smirked with a stifled chuckle.

"What?" Eames asked suspiciously.

"You've got a handkercheif."

Eames returned the smirk and said tying the cloth more tightly than necessary, "Well, I'm a true Brit."

"Alright. So, what do we do, just break into my... I don't even know where I'd keep secrets."

Eames thought and looked around, asessing the situation around him. He saw that they were in a particularly buisness-like part of a city, office buildings all around, and at intersection, was a bank. An enormous bank. He glanced sideways at Arthur noticing him looking at it too he said,

"I don't think we'll have too much trouble finding where you keep secrets."

Arthur nodded and asked slowly, "Yeah. Er, Eames? Have you ever... robbed a bank?"

Eames thought a moment before replying, "No. Yourself?"

"No."

They were contemplating their next move when they heard footsteps come running up behind them. They simultaneously whipped out their guns and turned around, weapons pointed in the face of the intruders.

"Goddamn, Eames! Arthur! It's just us!"

As it turned out it was only Cobb and Yusuf, who both had their arms raised in surrender.

"Oh. Sorry. What are you doing here?" Arthur asked nervously.

Cobb raised an eyebrow, "I'm not stupid. I knew it was you, you were talking about when you asked about _instraction._ That's not even the correct name for it. It's called, Planting. You _plant_ something in the subject's head. You don't _instract _it."

Eames shrugged as Arthur cocked an eyebrow at him. Cobb continued,

"We're here to help you extract. From yourself." He added adressing Arthur.

"Alright, well so far we've decided that our best bet it that bank over there." Eames pointed it out and Yusuf looked completely thunderstruck.

"...I didn't even notice that there." He said finally.

They all raised eyebrows at him, and walked carefully towards the bank, hoping to avoid Arthur's subconscious as much as they could. After all, Arthur was highly trained against this kind of thing.

They were in the bank lobby. So far, so good. They continued with caution, Cobb silently coming up with a brilliant sceme that would gain them access to Arthur's vault. It wasn't until they were standing awkwardly near the elevator that Cobb's eyebrows rose, a smile formed on his face and he hissed to the others,

"I have an idea!"

"You have a plan?" Arthur repeated excitement building.

"No, he just exclaimed has an idea because he was bored." Eames said sarcastically.

Arthur glared.

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Yusuf asked impatiently.

Cobb looked at them all importantly, "Okay so here's what we do..."

The Extractor, Point Man, Forger, and Chemist leaned in together, and discussed Cobb's plan. And hoped to God, that it would work.


	5. Chapter 5

_* Here's another chapter! READ AND REVIEW!_

* * *

Cobb, Yusuf, and Arthur stood anxiously in the bank lobby, waiting for Eames' signal. The Brit had disguised himself as a rather attractive woman and had gone up to the bank teller flirtatiously.

"Excuse me, I just needed to- Oh my! Aren't you a handsome gentleman." Eames giggled, his feminine voice was spot on.

"This is _never _gonna work..." Yusuf hissed to Cobb.

The bank teller, to their surprise blushed and said, "What is it you need help with, m'am?"

"My daddy owns one of the high security vaults? I was wondering, if maybe you could tell me where I might find it?"

Eames fluttered her... _his_ eyelashes and the bank teller nodded, "Of-Of course, Miss. It's on the basement level, a guard down there will help you make your withdrawal. Is there anything else, _I_ can help you with?"

Eames giggled then said in a rather manly, British voice, odd because he still appeared to be a woman, "Haha. No."

He returned to the others, leaving the bank teller thunderstruck he rounded a corner and became himself again.

Yusuf looked at Arthur incredulously, "Are you kidding me? Your subconscious is _that_ desperate that it will do anything for a woman it doesn't even know?"

Arthur shrugged, flushing slightly, "Well, I do like the ladies."

Cobb then cut in, "Well, it's a good thing that's true, otherwise I don't know _how_ we'd find the right vault in this place, it's enormous!"

Arthur and Yusuf both nodded in agreement, Eames merely muttered some kind of rude comment which Arthur ignored.

They traveled down to the basement, and were just beginning to realize how long of a staircase it was when Arthur flung out his arm to stop the others from falling. He gestured towards the abrupt end of the staircase and said calmly,

"Paradox." He closed his eyes and imagined the staircase to end, down in the basement. He felt the floor shift beneath his feet as he opened his eyes again and saw stairs building themselves into the wall beside them, leading down to the basement. He offered himself to go first and said, "This way then."

They reached the basement and saw several security guards standing guard in front of a long narrow hallway. At the end of it was a password activated, heavy steel vault. Arthur peeked his head around the corner to get a good look at them and they were staring.

"I think they're getting suspicious with you guys in here." Arthur whispered.

"No matter, then. We'll wait here and you can go run in and beat them up!" Eames suggested.

Arthur glared and Cobb said, "Alright, we'll just have to shoot them. No problem. We'll have to be careful though, they're highly trained against... well us."

"Alright. Let's go." Yusuf sighed and all four men removed their guns from inside their jackets, and rounded the corner, guns held aloft.

"Shit!" Yusuf gasped as a bullet plowed through his chest.

"Dammnit!" Cobb cursed.

* * *

_Up above, Yusuf woke up._

* * *

All the guards laid on the floor dead. Although more were on the way.

"We okay?" Cobb asked, catching his breath.

"I'm good." Arthur.

"Eames? Oh shit." Cobb was staring at the bloody wound in Eames' shoulder, he clutched it and shook the blood from his fingers. He slid down the wall into a sitting position, and weakly raised his gun.

"It's-It's alright. I'll just shoot from down here."

Cobb looked at him worridly. That must hurt like a bitch, as pain is in the mind, and in Eames' mind, his shoulder and collar bone was shattered.

About a dozen more guards came running in and Cobb swiftly ducked behind a pillar, shooting from behind it. Arthur was working on keeping them off Eames when Cobb called angrily,

"_Arthur! Just open the vault!"_

Arthur nodded, swallowing he dodged as many bullets as possible, only one skimming over the side of his face, leaving a bloody, burning cut.

He winced and ducked down beside the password lock and thought.

_Think, Arthur, think! First five numbers that come to your head. C'mon! Seven... Four... Four... Three... Nine._

He tapped it in and there was an unlocking click, the door swung open. Arthur raised his gun, aiming at the three remaining guards behind him and shot one in the foot, one in the head, and the other he missed. Cobb finished the rest off, and Arthur had to admit he and Eames had done a pretty good job.

"_Arthur! _Just extract the bloody thing so we can wake up, this isn't exactly a Band-Aid fix!" Eames hissed, gesturing to his shoulder.

"Right, sorry, sorry..." Arthur said quickly and entered the vault followed by Cobb.

It was a white tiled room, with steel walls, just the type of secure place Arthur would dream of. It was completely empty but for something small, and black on the floor lying in a pool of red. Arthur slowly walked up to it, bent down and brought it up to eye level.

He noticed a small metal button, he pressed it hard with his thumb and a fantastic, shining blade flipped up from within it's black handle. Arthur examined it more closely, and noticed blood all along the edge.

"Alright, so to destroy a knife, we could crush it, or put it in a fire, melt it..." Cobb though aloud.

Arthur stared at the thing with a crazed look in his eyes and raised it to his own throat...

* * *

_What's this? A cliffhanger? Oh dear, that wasn't intentional or anything... READ AND REVIEW!_


	6. Chapter 6

_* Alright, I couldn't wait any longer to post this, so here it is! Yet ANOTHER chapter to Arthur's Nightmare. READ AND REVIEW!_

* * *

Eames crawled, slowly and carefully into the vault, when he saw, Cobb wandering around absently, and Arthur... raising a knife to his own throat...

"ARTHUR NO!" Eames yelled and Cobb spun around in time to see the knife digging in slightly to Arthur's flesh.

* * *

Yusuf, now awake was watching Arthur in horror. He was shaking as if having a seizure, and his eyes were partially open, though they were rolling like those of a mad man.

* * *

Arthur was shaking uncontrollably, the blade ready to kill him.

"Arthur! Arthur, stop, Arthur no, Arthur... No Arthur!" Cobb was saying cautiously trying to get the knife away from him.

Arthur, however, was thinking of other things. He was once again having the nightmare of himself in the alleyway, being jumped... Being threatned... Being almost murdered... His eyes were rolling so fast they were a dark blur.

The blade was about to kill him...

"NO!" Eames yelled and with a well aimed kick, he sent Arthur falling to the floor, the knife skidding the length of the vault away from him, he laid on the ground shaking.

Cobb knelt next to him and was saying in a panic, "Arthur, _Arthur!_ Wake up, Arthur... Arthur!"

* * *

_Arthur was walking along an empty sidewalk. He noticed the cracks in the pavement, the gray in the sky, the grafitti on the buildings... He couldn't recall how he'd gotten there. But here he was. Walking. A piece of paper rustled in the wind, and went tumbling across the street. _

_It was the alleyway that Arthur was drawn to. He didn't know why. But he turned, and was walking down it when he felt at least three guys beating the ever living shit out of him. The leader of the group pulled him up by his collar and slammed him against the side of the building._

_The blade the man carried was pressed against Arthur's throat, blood collecting in beads at the edge. _

_**"Wake up, Arthur!"**_

_The voice was not from this dream, he could hear it from higher above. He realized he was in a second dream. He shoved the man down, and pulled out his gun, pointing it steadily into the man's face._

_"Today _you_ die, sir." He pulled the trigger._

_He watched in satisfaction as the man's blood spattered the wall behind him, he sunk down onto the ground leaving a messy trail of red. Arthur picked up the blade, and stabbed himself..._

* * *

"ARTHUR!"

Arthur opened his eyes in the first level to see Cobb and Eames looking at him with not only concern, but fear as well. What had happened to him?

His eyes were drawn to the blade.

A craving look dancing wildly in his dark eyes, he crawled shaking again towards the knife.

"Arthur! Arthur- stop, Arthur!"

Arthur grasped it and Eames screamed,

"ARTHUR! Destroy it! Destroy it, now!"

The crazed look left Arthur's eyes and the shaking ceased. He stared down at the object in his palm, it dissolved into a fine, silvery powder.

He continued to stare at the spot where it had been until Eames raised his gun weakly and said,

"Sorry 'bout this, darling."

He pulled the trigger.

* * *

Eames opened his eyes, relieved that they had successfully extracted the horrible nightmare from Arthur. Cobb had also woken up and Yusuf was sitting anxiously,

"What's happening to Arthur?" He asked horrified.

Eames and Cobb turned towards Arthur and again he was shaking unbelievably, his eyes rolling over and over...

"ARTHUR!" Cobb cried, shaking the Point Man to wake him.

"I got this, darling." Eames said suddenly, he stood up and crossed to Arthur's chair. He pushed on the front, and tipped it...

Arthur's eyes flew open, his limbs flailing in an attempt to stop the fall, which came anyway. He hit the ground and closing his eyes briefly, he reopened them to see his teamates looking down at him.

"Er- Hello." He said awkwardly.

* * *

_Our story's almost reached it's conclusion! ALMOST... READ AND REVIEW!_


	7. Chapter 7

* Here it is everyone! The final chapter! I'm really glad you liked it, and those of you that didn't, can go roll their red, loaded die or spin a top or something (wow that was nerdy.) anyways... READ AND REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!

* * *

Arthur felt a hot flush reach his cheeks as he saw his three team mates standing over him, looking at him with what appeared to be concern. Except for Eames who was smiling and nodding as if thinking, "Haha. Arthur's such a weakling."

Arthur decided it'd be best to show them he was fine, and so he stood- well, he _did_ stand but his knees then seemed to turn into jelly, he quickly clutched the side of the chair for support and Cobb, Eames, and Yusuf had all stepped foward throwing out their arms to stop him from falling.

"I got it, I got it..." Arthur mumbled pushing their arms away, and... slowly sinking to the floor.

"Arthur! You alright?" Cobb asked panicked as the Point Man sunk into a sitting position against the fallen armchair.

Arthur had a dazed look in his eyes as he stared off into space.

The three other men looked at each other, each man wondering what was happening to Arthur. Eames decided to ask the person who was supposed to be the expert on this kind of thing.

"Dom, what's-what's happening to him?"

He had the slightest hint of worry in his voice which he hoped no one would notice. Cobb and Yusuf did.

"Well, when you extract something traumatic like that from a person's mind it can leave... after-affects. I think Yusuf, you did a study on the affects didn't you?"

Yusuf swallowed, eyeing Arthur with concern he said nervously, "Well, yes. And it's symptoms can include, loss of consciousness, confusion, and er- suicidal thoughts..."

"SUICIDE?" Eames yelled inquiringly, anger building in his voice.

"Well yes, the affects only last a few hours after- EAMES STOP HIM!"

Eames wheeled around and saw Arthur had extracted a pocket knife from his coat and had it pressed against his throat...

Eames quickly bent down and snatched it from him, swiftly slapping him across the face as he did so.

"Get ahold of yourself, Arthur!"

Arthur blinked suddenly, seeming to realize where he was again.

"We'll just have to watch him tonight." Cobb said simply.

"Don't worry about it, I've got some work to do, I'll watch him." Eames said.

"Are you sure? Yusuf or I could easily-"

"No, no. It's fine, really go get some sleep I'm sure you haven't in what, three weeks?" Eames told Cobb who smiled and left, Yusuf following suit.

"Alright," Eames said sighing as the door to the warehouse slammed shut, "C'mon, Arthur. Up you get, old boy..."

He took the younger man's arm, and half lifted him to his feet. He led him carefully towards the couch, but half-way there all the help Arthur was giving with getting him over there, was lost when his knees buckled as he fainted.

"No you don't!" Eames said quickly, grabbing him under the arms before he fell.

He dragged him the rest of the way over to the couch and laid him down on it. Keeping his eye on Arthur, he took a seat at the computer and set himself to work, every so often looking over at Arthur. He really didn't need to, as he appeared to be in a dead sleep.

Around 7'o clock in the morning, Eames stretched and took a sip from his coffee when the Point Man awoke, a bit disoriented.

"Eames?" He asked weakly, blinking as his eyes adjusted to bright rays of sunlight filtering in through the blinds, "What happened?"

"We did the extraction, you tried to kill yourself, and then passed out. Yusuf says you should be fine by now, darling..."

Arthur looked at him and said, sleep still clear in his voice, "Did you stay here all night?"

Eames nodded and Arthur looked taken aback. Lying back down, resting his head on his hands he said impressed, "You're a good friend."

Eames sighed, "Yeah. You owe me, darling."

* * *

_THE END! (IF YOU DON'T REVIEW, ARTHUR MIGHT GET CONFUSED AS TO WHETHER OR NOT HE'S IN REALITY, AND WE ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THAT OCCURS... *Cough, cough* Mal... REVIEW!)_


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